Sleep well
by Lil-Samuu
Summary: Piece of pregame cuteness, because I was in the mood to write some.


Pre-game piece of cute fluffyness, because I was in the mood to write some :) Set when Colette and Lloyd are quite little.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I love it, but Namco have the pleasure of owning it I believe.

* * *

Colette and Lloyd had said goodbye to Genis and started on their way to Dirk's house when the sky opened up and rain began to bucket down. Colette squealed and Lloyd groaned in disgust. 

As Dirk was expecting them and would worry about them they decided that they'd best run to Lloyd's home.

Just as they were about to make a dash for it Colette spotted a little blob moving from Genis and Raine's house.

"Wait!" she said to Lloyd. Soon Genis, who seemed to have a little difficulty running with both an umbrella and a large folded up coat, caught up with them. 

"Here," he said, passing them the coat. "Couldn't find a spare umbrella but I thought one of Raine's coats might help a bit. See ya!" he ran off, eager to be out of the rain.

Lloyd and Colette quickly unfolded the coat and spread it out above their heads like a tent. Anyone who looked out of their window as the pair dashed past saw an amusing sight, it looked as though the coat had grown two short pairs of legs.

The duo arrived at Dirk's house completely sopping wet despite the coat. Large puddles that they'd had to run through had appeared and the splashes had drenched them.

Dirk took one look at the pair when they sloshed through the door and went to run a hot bath.

"Nice weather huh?" he called out over the sound of running water.

"For ducks," Lloyd grimaced as he peeled his boots off and opened the door to pour what seemed to be the contents of an entire rain cloud out of them. 

Colette had sat on the floor to pull her boots off, but ended up falling onto her back as she fought against a boot and the boot won.

By the time Lloyd and Colette, by combining their efforts, had managed to get Colette's boots off a bath was ready for them.

Colette got in first. She absolutely loved baths, but didn't get to soak in them for long at home. Her mother usually insisted on yanking her out before her skin became prune-like.

Here, however, she was allowed to soak as long as she liked, and she made the most of it.

Eventually, though, she felt it was unfair for her to stay in the bath when poor Lloyd could use one.

She moved to get out but Lloyd offered to scrub her back and help her wash her hair. He didn't seem that eager to get in the bath, so she let him.

When he was done helping her Lloyd passed Colette a towel that had been warming up by the fire and turned to face away from her as she got out of the bubble filled bath and wrapped the towel securely around herself.

Colette thanked him and went to sit by the fire for a short while.

Lloyd really wasn't in a hurry to get in the bath Colette noticed. He seemed content just to sit beside her in his dressing gown. However, eventually Colette decided it was time for her to change into the clothes she was borrowing from Lloyd. She had packed some nightclothes in her backpack, but they, along with the rest of the contents of the bag, had been soaked by a particularly nasty splash from a puddle.

She got up and walked along the hallway to go to Lloyd's room for some privacy to change. She passed Dirk on her way there.

"Is he in that bath yet?" Dirk asked.

"No," Colette said. Dirk wandered into the other room muttering under his breath. 

As Colette collected the old pyjamas and fluffy dressing gown and changed into them she couldn't help but giggle at the noises and yells coming from the other room.

"No, dad, no, I don't wanna have a bath, no, dad, NOOOOOOO!"

SPLASH

Lloyd's voice was cut off by a loud splash. Colette could guess who'd won that argument then.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnn!" she heard Lloyd sigh. Then he started screaming again.

"No! My hair's wet enough as it is, no, it doesn't need washing, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" 

SPLASH

That'd be two-nil to Dirk then.

Colette had to laugh when, wrapped up in the nightclothes she'd borrowed, she passed Lloyd in the hallway. He was now dressed in a fluffy towel himself. He was pulling a hard-done-by face, however, the comical way his wet hair was hanging over his face totally ruined the effect.

"Heeeeeeeey, no fair laughing," he said. 

"Sorry," Colette giggled. "It's just that your hair looks so silly."

"That's why I didn't want it washed," Lloyd sighed. He walked past her and started to walk into the room Colette had just been in.

"Dad says he'll cook dinner now, so if you want to go wait by the fire I'll be right with you,"

"OK," Colette smiled and did just that.

Soon Lloyd sat down beside her on the hearth and she rested her head on his shoulder as the pair watched the flames eat away at the wood. There was something very hypnotic about it.

They were dragged away from it when their dinner was ready. Over the food Lloyd and his dad came to a compromise.

Originally Colette and Lloyd were going to camp out in the back garden as they often did. However Dirk wanted them to stay indoors tonight because, even though the rain had stopped, the ground was still soggy.

Lloyd could be stubborn when he wanted to though and had eventually persuaded his dad to let him and Colette stay outside. They just had to set up a tent, something they didn't do often because the weather was usually nice.

After dinner the young children worked together to pitch the tent. Colette knew why Lloyd had been stubborn, he liked sleeping outside so that he could see the stars. They brought a lot of comfort and calm to both himself and Colette for a reason neither of them had, so far, been able to figure out.

It took a while because they were so unused to the task but eventually they had the tent set up.

They grabbed a blanket and snuggled under it, their heads sticking out of the tent door but the rest of their bodies laid out in the warm tent.

They stayed staring at the starts in content silence for a while. Then Colette yawned a yawn so big Lloyd could hardly believe it was her who'd made it.

"Bed time?" he asked. Colette nodded sleepily and sat up. She snuggled into her sleeping bag and Lloyd got into his, spreading the blanket they'd shared earlier across the bags for extra warmth.

"Night Lloyd, sleep well," Colette yawned.

"You sleep well too Colette, night," Lloyd replied and soon the two were fast asleep.

When Colette work up next it was still dark outside. She snapped awake properly when she heard Lloyd screaming. She looked over to him and saw he was fast asleep, he was having a nightmare.

She dodged the pillow that he threw, as a weapon against a dream monster perhaps, and knelt beside him.

"Lloyd! LLOYD! Wake up!" she yelled. He didn't. She moved and pinned him down so he stopped thrashing about. "Lloyd! Lloyd! It's OK, I'm here. Wake up!" she yelled. 

"WAH!" he screamed as his eyes snapped open.

"Oh God that was horrible," he said, half closing his eyes. He started shivering and whimpered.

"Shhhhhh, it's OK," Colette said softly, wrapping him up in a cuddle. "You wanna talk about it?"

"N,no, it's alright," Lloyd said, already a little calmer for Colette looking after him. "It's nothing, just, scared me a bit at the time, you know,"

"Oh Lloyd," Colette said softly. She retrieved Lloyd's pillow and snuggled into his sleeping bag so she could continue to cuddle him.

"I'll keep you safe from the nasty dreams," she said, curling round him and hugging him as if he was a giant plush toy.

"Thank you," he said quietly, his shivering gradually slowing.

"Shhhhhh, it's OK," Colette whispered. Lloyd calmed completely. Colette was glad to have been able to help him. She always found a hug comforting after a bad dream.

She noticed Lloyd's breathing slow and she moved to look at his face. Sure enough he'd fallen back asleep. This time though there was a smile on his face. Colette smiled at Lloyd's peaceful face and then cuddled up to him again and fell fast asleep.


End file.
